Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Forum:
Our Wheaten Barks When I Leave in the Morning

Our six-year old Wheaten Terrier barks when I leave in the morning. I suppose he sees me as the alpha dog/male, as I am the man of the house (my wife of course may differ!). Not sure if that has anything to do with it or not. In any case, when I leave for work in the morning, he goes crazy! We have tried the barking collar approach, with limited success. Any insights would be most appreciated.

We took over a Wheaten from a relative who couldn\'t care for him any more, and he turned out to be highly aggressive and temperamental. Had him put down today after about the 6th unprovoked attack on our old springer, after which he attacked my wife and then me. 6 hours in the ER, multiple gashes. I\'ve always had a hard time putting dogs down, but not this time. Terrible dog.

We have an 11 month old male we are looking for good home for. He is great with my kids(3,12) but our busy schedule is not condusive to owning a dog. He is house broken and up to date w/ the vet. We are located in NJ. Thanks

I have a wonderful male seven years young Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier named Quigley. He\'s the greatest dog in the world and I love him soooo much! He\'s such a great dog, although it is very hard to take him on a walk. He just adores people and loves to jump, and so it is very hard to control him when there is another person around. He\'s a very protective dog when it comes to men. If they take one step into \"his\" territory, he will freak out and bite. But if it is a woman, he would not touch them. Same with children. He does hate other dogs, though. He almost took down a boxer once. These dogs are great because they do not shed and have a good temperment with people and house pets. Also, Wheatens do not shed, but cost alot of $$$$$ if it is a purebred. training that involves him/her getting along with other dogs should be started at an early stage of the life, and continued throughout the life. The bark on my dog, Quigley, can be very anoting. You take my word for it. Most of the time, other wheatens have the same problem. Just keep in mind; Their bark is worst than their bite.

I have an 8 month old male Wheaten Terrier who get so nervous when we leave him in his kennel that poops EVERY time. After much disappointment I video taped him and found out that he paces back and forth (side stepping with front paws) ALL day long crying and barking and then gets so worked up that he poops. Any ideas on how to make him more comfortable and have a better life? Thanks!

We recently (yesterday) purchased a Wheaten from a breeder. The puppy was a little bit older, 4 months, but has a fabulous disposition which was a huge selling point to us. We are crate training and take him outside regularly. He will pee outside, then come inside and poop on the carpet. He has done this twice so far. We are out for 10-15 minutes or so. Any advice?

Zack is 9 in 2 months and appears to suffer sore shoulder and hip pain after a hard run, swim or moderate hike. Is this normal? Also sleeps more now than when younger. 2 hours active, 22 hour on the floor. Thanks

I have a 10 month old wheaten and am having trouble getting him house broken. Everytime we take him outside to use the bathroom he doesn\'t and then we bring him back inside and he imemdiately poops. Does anyone have any suggestions. Thanks,

We have a wonderful 1 year old female wheaten that is the perfect dog with one exception. We live behind a park where people walk with dogs and the minute she sees one she is running the fence line faster than a speeding ticket. She is digging up all the grass which is now complete mud. It\'s a chain link fence, has anyone had this experience and know how to stop it? We really don\'t want to get rid of her because she is almost perfect, but the backyard is a disaster.

We have a sweet little female wheaten 2 years old - she was house trained pretty easily but now has started to wet the bed at night, I have tried different blankets, beds and towels. It is not every night but most nights. Suggestions appreciated.

I am the proud mother of my third Wheaten Terrier. My first two were puppy mill rescues. One of my rescues had aggression issues. I learned much working through this with him; he passed away 1/1/09. I love the terrier personality; they are a strong willed lot making training essential to their well being. They have intense instincts needing stimulation (physical and mental) as well as socialization to develop to their potential. Start with Puppy Kindergarten. We have to learn to speak and understand their language before we can teach them effectively. Every time I go through a Puppy Kindergarten class I learn too. Aggression sometimes comes from fear or undiagnosed physical problems.

I have to say I was a bit put off by the above posts. My twin sister and I are looking to buy wheaten siblings the end of June. (If anyone can recommend a great breeder, I\'d be interested!) Everywhere else I read I hear how great they are for families. My husband and I want kids soon. I guess we need to really research a breeder who breeds for good temperament and be sure I don\'t get the dominant aggressive male or female from the litter. Any advice for a Wheaten rookie is appreciated!

So, I\'ve been reading all of the posts on this site and am shocked by what I\'m reading. We have owned nothing but Wheaten Terriers and currently have two of them. To suggest that their is something \"genetically\" wrong with Wheatons because they behave like a terrier is ridiculous. These dogs were bred to be sturdy farm hands - independent, intellegent and intuitive. All terriers have Alpha A personalities, because they were bred for hundreds of years to do their job(eliminate vermin) on the farmstead. If you are having aggression problems with your dog and you think it is because of there is something genetically wrong with them, then you shouldn\'t be owning a dog of any kind. If you want a pet that requires no committment on your part, you just want it to sit in the corner and be \"cute on demand\" then maybe you should look into get a house plant. Puppies and dogs are a major committment. If your dog(regardless of the breed) is aggressive then that tells me everything I need to know about how you raised that dog. If you let a dog, especially any type of terrier come into your home and do whatever it wants when it is a puppy then it will be come leader and at that point YOU belong to the dog. If your dog is tearing up your fence line or behaving poorly, you need to exercise it more. How long to you walk your dog? Do you do it EVERY day? These things need to be thought about before you go and purchase any type of dog from any type of breeder. If you have a scared or timid dog, I can gaurantee you didn\'t housebreak it properly.

My 10-year old Wheaton Terrier has an itching problem asnd alsoi has hot spots all the time. The vet gave me some shampoo to put on the hot spots. Is it okay for me to give my dog a haircut as the weather is getting hot here. Maybe I can have his hair cut short for the summer and let it grow back for the winter. Steve Zimmerman

Had anyone successfully had a Wheaten and a cat together? We are looking to get a puppy and have a three year old Maine Coon Cat?

Hi-- Our almost 2 yr old female Wheaten is suddenly wetting all over the house. We recently got a doggie door-- took awhile but she seems fine w/ it. We use Nature\'s Miracle on the spots-- usually there are 2 smaller ones (like she\'s marking her territory rather than really peeing). HELP! I\'m going back to work in a month and need the doggie door to work!